*Ok, the chart refers to pay for people working in each cohort during the years 1996 and 1998. However, these were not atypical years for banking compensation (if anything pay in 1998 was depressed by the Asian crisis). Banking pay may not increase quite so exponentially these days, but the industry still pays a lot better than most alternatives. One London-based search firm claims M&A analysts can still earn £100k in year one and £280k in year three… On the other hand, 60% of start-ups allegedly fail by year four.